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REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE AT THE OPENING OF THE SCIENCE BUILDING AT NUI MAYNOOTH

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE AT THE OPENING OF THE SCIENCE BUILDING AT NUI MAYNOOTH ON TUESDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 1998

Firstly I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the President of NUI Maynooth for inviting me here to officially open the new Science building this afternoon. As a former educator myself, I have a keen interest in the development of university facilities, and this new building represents a significant milestone in the realisation of the mission of NUI Maynooth which embraces local and national society – seeking to provide leadership in Ireland for the next century.

The structure of education in Ireland has been changing rapidly over the last three decades – with an expansion of available third level colleges – and far greater access for people who, in former generations, may not have been so fortunate. Indeed, it is to the great credit of our educators that they have been ready and willing to give the leadership that has been required – and which has put Ireland in a position to provide a well-educated young population, eager to play their full part in the cultural and economic renaissance that we have enjoyed in more recent years. The foundation for our successful and responsive education system was put in place over many years by dedicated and far-seeing educators, politicians and administrators who had the courage to take the lead and to invest in our country’s future, by investing in the intellectual development in our young people.

The secret to success in this, as in any other field, is the ability to change – and to continually critique how we address the present and projected requirements of those whom we are charged to arm with the skills and disciplines to allow our society to progress and prosper. It is incumbent on us to mould and shape our society into one which embraces all – a society which maintains a balance between material affluence, cultural, educational and spiritual richness, and openness to change. While today we are celebrating the opening of a new science building – it is part of a wider institution – a university that in its many disciplines is engaged in the important task of developing young minds and intellects. John Henry Newman, in one of his many writings on the value and purpose of a university education, said “A truly great intellect . . . . is one which takes a connected view of old and new, past and present, far and near, and which has an insight into the influence of all these with one another. . . It possesses the knowledge, not only of things, but also of their mutual and true relations; knowledge, not merely considered as acquirement, but as philosophy.” Your mission is concerned with imparting the means and skills to take that “connected view”.

The establishment of NUI Maynooth in 1997, arises from the changes that were brought about by the Universities Act – and is part of that continuing process. But Maynooth has been changing for several decades – and this new building is another important step in the many developments that have been undertaken here over the last three decades – in teaching and research programmes to post-doctoral level in a range of disciplines spanning the fields of education, humanities and science – and with a range of new campus buildings opened over the last decade representing an investment of £25 million.

The tradition of science teaching and research at Maynooth is well known. The early work of Physicists like Nicholas Callan and others have paved the way for the current generation of scientists at NUI Maynooth. As each new generation builds on the progress of earlier generations, the staff of the science departments who will work in this building are indebted to those who came before them – and who tended the flame of learning and scholarship. With accommodation for 800 students, the building is equipped with high technology research laboratories that will greatly enhance the university’s capacity to engage in leading edge research projects.

Another facet of the tremendous changes that have been taking place has been in the area of gender representation. In the past, science teaching and research - particularly in subjects like Chemistry and Physics – has been a predominantly male inhabited world. I have no doubt that there are many reasons for this – ranging from what was deemed ‘acceptable’ as women’s work, to the absence of suitable role models. I am happy to say that NUI Maynooth are very fortunate in having Professor Susan McKenna-Lawlor as an internationally renowned role model, because of her tremendous work in the field of space science. I was also pleased to learn that just over half of the number of students registered for Physics and Chemistry at this university are female – and I have no doubt whatever that many of these will go on to become role models themselves.

Scientific research, perhaps more than any other discipline, is concerned about the search for truth. Its goal is to probe nature’s secrets until the fundamental is revealed - whether that is a fundamental particle such as an electron or a quark – a mathematical model of a complex chemical molecule – or a cosmological model of the universe. Science has given us so much that we now take for granted. Fundamental discoveries in electricity and thermodynamics, from painstaking research by people with an unquenchable thirst for understanding, have provided our generation with video recorders and play-stations, fridge-freezers and microwave ovens. Diseases which wiped out whole families in earlier times are now easily treated and cured. With new discoveries every day, it becomes difficult to keep up with the latest advances. Universities play an important role in society in this respect – because they are a repository of such knowledge, and it is in universities that such advances are assimilated and transmitted to society. But much remains to be done – in the eradication and treatment of disease – in the study of nature and the impact of modern industry and farming methods on the environment. Many of these problems are already being addressed by researchers at this university.

Dr. Smyth, I congratulate you and the University for your continuing commitment to education. As Ireland’s newest – and yet paradoxically its second oldest university – NUI Maynooth will continue to play an important role in Irish education and research. It has risen to the many challenges it has faced in becoming a modern university in a modern State – and has contributed to the modernisation of the State. Today you have a modern Science Building equipped with modern facilities and laboratories. I wish you, and the staff and students who will use these new facilities in the coming generations – every success.